A Ryan Constable-coached side go in search of Ireland’s best finish at the Rugby World Cup Sevens finals since 1993 on Friday. We take a look at their match schedule.
A Ryan Constable-coached side go in search of Ireland’s best finish at the Rugby World Cup Sevens finals since 1993 on Friday. We take a look at their match schedule.
RUGBY WORLD CUP SEVENS: Friday, March 18 – Sunday, March 20
Hong Kong Stadium, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Pool A: New Zealand, Scotland, Tonga, Ireland, Korea, USA
Pool B: England, Samoa, France, Italy, Georgia, Chinese Taipei
Pool C: Fiji, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Japan, Hong Kong
Pool D: Argentina, South Africa, Kenya, Tunisia, Russia, Uruguay
Friday: Pool matches: (all times Irish (Hong Kong GMT +8 hours))
02.49am: Pool A – Ireland v Scotland
08.41am: Pool A – New Zealand v Ireland
11.52am: Pool A – Ireland v USA
Saturday: Pool matches:
03.26am: Pool A – Ireland v Korea
09.47am: Pool A – Tonga v Ireland
Sunday: Knock-out stages:
02.30am – 11.00am: Bowl, Plate, Melrose Cup quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals
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IRELAND Squad:
(1) Mark Bruce (Loughborough University)
(2) Kevin Croke (UCD) *
(3) David Hewitt (Clontarf)
(4) Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin)
(5) Ian Humphreys (Belfast Harlequins) (Capt)
(6) Andy Maxwell (Ballymena)
(7) Michael McComish (Ballymena)
(8) Martin McPhail (UL Bohemians)
(9) James Norton (UCD)
(10) Brendan O’Connor (Cork Constitution) *
(11) Niall Ronan (Lansdowne)
(12) Brian Tuohy (Shannon) *
Management:
Ryan Constable (Coach)
George Spotswood (Manager)
Ailbe McCormack (Physio)
* denotes new cap
2004/05 Record:
Dubai Sevens: Shield final: Ireland 5 Tunisia 17
George Sevens, South Africa: Bowl semi-final: Canada 24 Ireland 19
IRB Sevens ’05: Matches Played: 11; Won: 3; Drawn 1; Lost 7
Points Scored: 192; Conceded: 267
Tries Scored: 32; Conceded: 43
Top Points Scorer: Ian Humphreys 52
Top Try Scorer: Mark Bruce 4 (Dubai), Tomas O’Leary 5 (George)
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SEVENS STATS:
* Out of the 22 World Cup matches Ireland have contested – nine have been won – (6, 1993), (1, 1997) and (2, 2001)
* Ireland bowed out of the ’93 finals at the semi-final stage (19-21 v Australia) – and finished as Bowl semi-finalists in both 1997 and 2001
* At the 2002 European Sevens tournament in Sopot, Poland – Lithuania and the Ukraine duelled out the lowest scoring international Sevens match on record – 0-0
* While the highest score notched in an international Sevens match was Fiji’s 101-0 win over Zambia in 1996 – Ireland’s record also came nine years ago, with an 80-0 RWC qualifier defeat of Hungary
* Eric Elwood is Ireland’s leading scorer in the previous three Sevens World Cups. The Connacht legend scored 60 points – kicking 22 goals – Fiji’s Waisele Serevi leads the way on 252
* Richard Wallace – who played in the 1993 and 1997 tournaments – is Ireland’s top try scorer with 10. Fijian duo Marika Vunibaka (17) and Serevi (16) are disputing first
* Ireland’s first Sevens match came in 1973. Centre Mike Gibson captained a side in the Scotland Rugby Union Centenary Sevens at Murrayfield. The Irish defeated New Zealand, Australia and host nation Scotland before losing to England in the final (18-22)
* Ireland’s previous results against their Pool A opponents: New Zealand (Played 4, Lost 4 (7-24 (1993), 0-49 (1996), 0-26 (1999), 14-50 (2002))
Scotland (Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1 (17-19 (2002), 14-7 (2004))
Tonga (Played 1, Won 1 (14-12 (1993))
Korea (Played 2, Won 1, Drawn 1 (21-12 (1993), 19-19 (2001))
USA (Played 2, Won 2, Lost 1 (38-0 (1993), 12-14 (1994), 17-7 (2000))
* Two of Ireland’s previous World Cup squads: 2001: Aidan Kearney, Jan Cunningham, David Quinlan, Derek Hegarty, Andy Dunne, Matt Mostyn, James Topping, James Ferris, Conor McPhillips, Aidan McCullen.
1997: Jonathan Bell, Ben Cronin, Kieran Dawson, Denis Hickie, David Humphreys, Niall Malone, Richard Wallace, Niall Woods.
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